We have now finished watching the movies through "First Contact". There is something I have noticed that bothers me a little. The original Star Trek, and The Next Generation do a pretty good job of displaying the future as a utopia, or at least moving towards a utopia. In the fourth movie, "The Voyage Home", the future is solar powered and clean. They don't use money because their economics are so stable and they don't need money. The farther into the series you get, the less utopian the future gets. Is this in response to society's interest in a dystopian future?

Think about it. Right now people love disaster movies, they love zombie movies, they love outbreak movies, Mad Max type movies. How can a utopian franchise even compete? The fact that Star Trek was so successful makes me think that people still want to look towards the future as a sort of utopia, where things keep getting better. But the darker side of humanity is fascinated by how bad it could really become. Just a thought.

There are a few things that bother me about the American language.... there are actually a lot of things that bother me about the American language, but here are five of them.

1. Olderly - This is an old/elderly person. 2. Orientated - The infinitive form of this word is "to orient". The noun form of this verb is an orientation. The past tense of this verb is oriented. There is no past tense form of orientation because it is a noun. 3. "It's always in the last place you look." - Of course it is, because once you find something, you stop looking. 4. Acrossed - I don't know where this comes from regionally. I have heard it all over the US. I have also been guilty of saying it numerous times. I don't even know how this made it into common language, but it has. A little piece of me dies every time I say it. 5. I could borrow that to you - That's not the way this verb works. You can borrow something, but it is not something you can do to someone. You can lend something to someone, or you can borrow something from someone. The words are not interchangeable.

I think the major issue I have with these things (except #3) is that they are the result of lazy language.

I don't want to be too negative about the American language. I really appreciate how it evolves and how words are grafted into the language. Here are some more modern phrases that I like, and I'm sorry if you don't. It's a perspective thing. I know these things are wrong, but I like them anyway.

1. Might could - This is a good ol' southern thing. It is used like so: "Would you be willing to put the dishes away?" "I might could after I put the food away."2. Pretty much almost - This is the list committal way to say something. "Are you done with the dishes" "I'm pretty much almost done." (basically means you haven't started)3. May or may not be - This is a hard one to describe. It is only used when the positive "may" is the only option for what is happening. Here's an example: "I may or may not be writing a blog right now." I am definitely writing a blog right now.

What are some American language things you've encountered that you like or dislike?

TC and I have recently watched the first six Star Trek movies. I've seen most of them before, but I needed a refresher.

Now, let me tell you about one of the reasons why I love my husband:I have seen quite a bit of Star Trek, which includes TNG, Voyager, Enterprise, the movies etc. I haven't seen the original series... yet. I generally have a lot of questions and TC knows (or at least can make an educated guess at) the right answer. Throughout the six movies, I had him pause at least 10+ times per movie to ask questions. Normally I wouldn't stop someone to ask questions about movies, but he's seen them all before and he likes talking about them. One of the things he asked me was what exactly I liked about the movies. It took me a while to figure it out. I really enjoy the act of discovery. My favorite part about superhero movies is when new superheroes are just discovering their abilities. I really enjoy the Star Trek series because they are always discovering new things. What I liked about the movies is that they take an idea and then they look at it from a different angle. Example: in the fourth movie, The Voyage Home, an alien device comes to Earth and sends a message. The message is not for the humans, it's for a much older creature. I've seen so many scifi movies, and in general, aliens send messages to humans. That's a selfish way of looking at things, if you ask me. Anyway, back to the movies. The writing is clever and the actor dynamic is awesome. The first couple movies were harder for me to get in to, but I really liked the other ones.

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Zuul decided to write the rest of the blog for me, I guess. Anyway, lets get back to Star Trek.

As it turns out, Star Trek has taught me a lot about myself. I've always known what I like about superhero movies, but watching these movies has taught me that I actually really like the act of discovery. It's part of the reason that I like traveling. It also explains why I like to learn things on my own without anyone showing me how to do it. I also really like teaching other people, which goes with this. Teaching is not that I get to discover new things (although that is part of it), but I get to witness others discovering things. I like piecing together languages, it's a form of discovery for me. I love learning. I thank Star Trek for this discovery about myself. :)

*Also, if you're wondering, the title is from the fifth movie, The Final Frontier.